The Crafts of Dollywood

The Great Smoky Mountains has a rich history and culture of arts and crafts. The people that settled here were on their own, so they had to figure out how to provide for themselves. Dollywood provides many opportunities to discover the various arts and crafts of the region. Master craftsmen and women demonstrate every day throughout the park, mostly in Craftsmen's Valley. Many of these people are extremely talented and have been doing these crafts their entire lives.

My personal favorite is the Woodcarving Shop. I regret not taking some inside shots of the store - I will be sure to do this next time I am there. There are tons of wood-related items in this shop. I especially enjoy smelling the cedar wood items. Thats me, picking up a wood box, opening, and sniffing. Some of the more interesting items are the wood spirits and fireplace mantels. Pretty much, anytime you go in there, the master woodcarver is working on a fireplace mantel with an elaborate mountain scene on the front. The attention to detail is amazing. Whats even more amazing is watching the craftsman work. He will also do customization of items you buy in the store. I found the perfect hiking stick on the shop's front porch and had him put my name on it. They make it look easy! We also ended up buying a mail and key holder wall hanger. The shop also includes wood carving starter kits in case you want to give it a try. I ended up getting one online before I went on my trip and I got quite far on my starter project - just need to get back to it and finish it. The wood spirits are especially cool. People in Germany once believed wood spirits protected the forest from fire and destruction. Eventually, people created these wood spirits as their interpretations of what the wood spirits look like. What you see here are the Smoky Mountains version of wood spirits.





Old Flames Candles is a candle shop with the most unique and amazing candles I've ever seen. Just look at the pictures below. I've never seen an ice-cream sundae candle before, but there it is! They also have an area where you can dip your own candles to color them. Watch out - that wax is hotter than it looks!







Smoky Creek Leather is the place to satisfy your leather needs. Hats, belts and jackets, oh my! I might have to get one of the leather wallets next time I am there. The leathersmith can usually be found at work making items to sell as well as doing customizations. This store smells really good...



Handmade wagons is a really interesting shop because you can watch the craftsmen build wagons. They had finished working on a Christmas sleigh last time I was there. This fully-functional shop is one of the last wagon-making shops in our country. There are signs around the shop educating visitors on different aspects of wagon-making. Also, they will let you hitch a horse up to a wagon and take it for a test drive. Just kidding...








The Blacksmith and Foundry has tons of iron items, signs, decorations, etcs, many of which will add nicely to your home decor. They create a lot of items daily here. Its interesting watching the blacksmith as he forges various items and talks about what he is doing. Its amazing to think this is how it was done! I believe he takes requests for customizations.





You haven't seen anything until you watch one of the glassblowers demonstrate the art of glassblowing at the Rainbow Glass Blowing Factory. I am trying to remember if there were glass items in the attached shop. I think there may have been some, but that shop has lots of other stuff in it that is unrelated. There is a shop in a different part of Dollywood called Custom Glassworks that is devoted exclusively to handmade glass figurines and ornaments.




Even though I mentioned the Sweet Shoppe in my Dining At Dollywood post, it had to be mentioned again here due to the fact that you can watch the candymakers make taffy and many other types of candy that are sold right there in the store. The candymaker was really nice and explained what she was doing when we asked how she did it!



During the Dollywood National Gospel and Harvest Celebration (basically, all of October), you will see dozens of different craftsmen from all over the country. The booths are spread throughout Dollywood. I found a woodcarver right near Victoria's Pizza that had all kinds of wood puzzles. I ended up buying two pair of wooden dice, regular size and jumbo size. I got a few other items but they alude me at the moment. If you have crafts you want to sell, you can request a booth and participate! Below is the fiddle maker in one of the provided booths.



In summary, Dollywood has many crafts demonstrated daily throughout the park. If you REALLY like crafts, October is the time to go as dozens of craftsmen and women participate in the Harvest celebration.

Check out my other Dollywood posts:
Dollywood Introduction
The Rides of Dollywood
Blazing Fury IS a roller coaster, mom!
Dining At Dollywood
The Shows of Dollywood